Ikea: a cheap place for date night

A game of slap and tickle on an Ektorp sofa, a stolen kiss behind Alvine Spets curtains, and a Swedish meatball feast–do these sound like the ingredients for romance? If you spend an evening at Ikea with your honey, they certainly are.

Ikea’s Smaland offers free childcare for up to an hour and a half.

According to a recent article in the New York Times, some parents are going to Ikea for date night. Why? Because the retailer offers free babysitting at its Smaland play centers, where kids who are tall enough (height requirement varies from 36 to 50 inches depending on the location) can watch movies, dive into pits full of plastic balls, or do art projects under the supervision of Ikea staff. Parents can drop off their little ones for up to an hour and a half and enjoy some quality adult time while browsing the furniture store and dining in the restaurant. The Emeryville location even offers bay views from its cafe tables. (You are required to stay at the store while your children are at Smaland.)

Ikea estimates that Smaland attendance has jumped roughly 20 percent so far this year in its stores in major American cities, according to the Times.

“Lately, we’ve seen an increase in a lot of new parents,” Yumiko Whitaker, public relations manager for Ikea’s Orange County stores in California, told the Times. “They’re getting out of the house and we’re providing an environment that gives them a break.”